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ATiONAL  Research 
Council 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  RESEARCH  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

By  James  Rowland  Angell 

of  the  University  of  Chicago  and  the 
National  Research  Council 


Published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-third  Annual  Convention  of  the 

Association  of  American  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment 

Stations,  Chicago,  Illinois,  November,  1919,  pages  84-97 


Announcement  Concerning  Publications 

of  the 
National  Research  Council 


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The  Development  of  Research  in  the 
United  States 

By 

JAMES  ROWLAND  ANGELL 

of  the  University  of  Chicago  and  the 
National  Research  Council 

An  Address  delivered  before  the  Association  of  Land- Grant 
Colleges  at  Chicago,  November  13,  1919 

I.       THE    KATIONAL  OBLIGATION   TO    FOSTER   RESEABCH 

Among  the  many  lessons  which  the  war  taught  us,  few  have  made  a 
deeper  impression  upon  the  public  mind  than  that  of  the  part  played  by 
science  and  technology  in  the  prosecution  of  any  of  the  great  undertakings 
of  modern  life,  and,  for  that  matter,  in  the  maintenance  of  the  social  order 
itself.  That  the  United  States  has  been  backward  in  these  directions  was 
common  knowledge  to  the  experts,  but  was  not  suspected  by  the  rank  and 
file.  In  a  general  way  it  had  long  been  a  subject  of  comment  that  the  Ger- 
mans had  succeeded  in  exploiting  scientific  research  for  the  improvement 
of  their  industry  and  agriculture  to  a  degree  unrivalled  by  other  countries. 
But  with  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  crushing  eflBciency  of  the  many  new 
technical  devices  of  the  German  army  lent  added  emphasis  of  the  most 
dramatic  character  to  the  appreciation  of  what  had  in  that  country  been 
accomplished  in  these  lines. 

When  the  United  States  was  drawn  into  the  war  one  of  the  first  prob- 
lems which  presented  itself  was  the  securing  of  the  necessary  number  of 
scientific  experts  to  organize  and  direct  the  tremendous  technical  enter- 
prises which  had  promptly  to  be  put  on  foot.  Instantly,  it  became  apparent 
that  not  only  were  we  backward  in  the  utilization  of  scientific  methods 
and  intelligence  in  the  solution  of  our  economic,  social,  agricultural  and 
industrial  problems,  but  also  that  we  had  no  definite  knowledge  of  where 
the  personnel  required  to  deal  with  the  new  scientific  issues  could  be  found. 
In  other  words,  there  had  never  been  occasion  for  any  general  mobilization 
of  our  scientific  resources,  and  we  were  accordingly  obliged  to  start  at  the 
very  beginning.  One  of  the  first  tasks  to  which  the  National  Research 
Council  set  its  face  was  precisely  this  gathering  together  of  competent  men, 
bringing  together  the  job  and  the  man  wherever  possible.  Most  of  these 
men  were  promptly  swallowed  up  in  one  or  another  of  the  government  or- 
ganizations, chiefly  those  of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments.  But  the 
lesson  taught  by  this  war-time  experience  will  not  be  soon  forgotten,  and 
it  is  part  of  the  peace-time  program  of  the  National  Research  Council  to 
establish  in  perpetuity  arrangements  whereby  there  will  be  in  some  sense 
a  permanent  mobilization  of  the  scientific  ability  of  the  country,  to  be 
directed  in  times  of  peace  to  the  social,  industrial  and  governmental  neces- 
sities of  such  periods,  and  to  be  instantly  available  in  case  of  a  future  war 
for  the  purposes  of  national  defence. 


Reprinted  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-third  Convention, 
Association  of  American  Agrricultural  Colleg'es  and  Experiment  Stations, 
padres  84  to  102. 


While  the  war  brought  forth  the  most  pressing  demand  for  mere 
technicians  in  quantities  never  before  dreamed  of,  and  while  the  War 
Department  struggled  with  a  high  degree  of  success  to  produce  quickly  the 
necessary  number,  and  the  necessary  quality  in  these  men,  the  more  im- 
portant lesson  for  our  permanent  interests  in  times  of  peace  was  the  extent 
to  which  the  demand  was  felt  for  men  capable  of  carrying  on  research 
whether  in  the  way  of  improving  old  methods,  devices  and  apparatus,  or 
in  the  way  of  devising  wholly  new  methods.  At  the  declaration  of  the 
armistice,  practically  every  scientist  possessed  of  any  capacities  for  research 
found  himself  taken  up  in  one  way  or  another  into  the  great  national 
machine  where  he  was  called  upon  to  make  some  contribution  to  the  in- 
numerable problems  presented  by  the  war.  Nothing  can  be  more  certain 
than  that  the  character  and  rapidity  of  our  national  development  in  all 
matters  which  relate  to  industry,  agriculture,  public  health  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  physical  framework  of  our  civilization  will  be  dependent  upon 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  sound  research  which  is  carried  on.  The  truth 
of  this  assertion  becomes  even  more  apparent  when  one  recognizes  the  fact 
that  every  modern  nation  stands  in  relations  of  industrial  and  commercial 
competition  with  other  nations;  and  in  the  measure  in  which  this  is  true,  to 
fall  notably  behind  the  others  in  scientific  development  is  to  precipitate  a 
trend  of  events  which  spells  national  depression  and  disaster.  In  other 
words,  the  price  of  a  sound,  progressive,  national  life  is  in  these  times 
widespread  and  intelligent  scientific  research. 

It  is  to  be  recalled  in  this  connection  that  Great  Britain  and  her 
dominions,  Italy,  and  Japan,  have  all  set  about  to  solve  this  problem  through 
government  subvention,  and  France  is  said  to  be  contemplating  a  similar 
move.  Now  it  is  to  be  recognized  with  full  appreciation  that  in  recent 
years  both  Federal  and  State  Governments  have  made  substantial  con- 
tributions for  purposes  of  research,  particularly  in  agriculture,  engineer- 
ing, and  the  industrial  arts.  The  sum  total  of  such  appropriations  for 
1919-20  I  have  no  means  of  giving  with  precision,  but  so  far  as  I  can  dis- 
cover, it  runs  up  to  at  least  $10,000,000.  All  this  is  hopeful  and  indicative 
of  an  open-minded  and  progressive  spirit.  Such  shortcomings  as  it  exhibits 
are  largely  incidental  to  the  administrative  conceptions  under  which  such 
legislation  is  sometimes  carried  out.  There  has  perhaps  been  temptation  to 
put  undue  emphasis  upon  immediate  practical  and  local  issues,  some  of 
them  intrinsically  trivial,  rather  than  upon  the  more  fundamental  and  far- 
reaching  forms  of  inquiry;  but  it  would  be  very  unfair  to  criticize  in  any 
carping  spirit  a  movement  dictated  by  motives  of  so  sound  and  generous 
a  character,  and  one  whose  duration  has  been  so  brief  as  to  afford  rela- 
tively little  opportunity  for  improvement  through  experience,  the  only 
means  by  which  reliable  knowledge  can  be  gained.  Certainly  the  national 
character  of  the  obligation  to  foster  research,  both  in  pure  and  applied 
science,  as  widely  as  our  resources  will  permit,  cannot  be  called  in  question 
by  any  thoughtful  observer  of  the  present  trend  in  the  development  of 
civilization,  and  it  is  essential  in  this  connection  that  we  conceive  of  research 
as  the  organized  technique  of  science  itself  for  its  own  propagation.  It 
is,  so  to  speak,  the  reproductive  process  of  science.  To  think  of  it,  as  is 
often  done,  as  a  mere  addendum  to  science,  as  a  sort  of  luxury  of  the 
scientific  idle  rich,  is  fundamentally  and  perniciously  false. 


More  specifically,  this  obligation  to  foster  research  means,  first,  the 
providing  for  a  greatly  enlarged  personnel  with  much  better  fundamental 
training  than  is  at  present  available.  It  means,  second,  the  securing  of  the 
necessary  facilities  of  laboratories,  apparatus,  and  all  the  physical  con- 
veniences that  are  involved  in  scientific  work.  It  means,  third,  the  pro- 
curing of  sufficient  freedom  from  other  duties  to  permit  research  workers 
to  give  their  full  and  undivided  attention  throughout  such  periods  as  may 
be  necessary  to  the  completion  of  their  research  undertakings. 

It  may  contribute  to  a  just  estimate  of  the  problem  which  confronts  us 
in  this  country  to  survey  briefly  the  conspicuous  characteristics  of  the 
major  agencies  available  for  the  conduct  of  research.*     These  I  take  to  be: 

(1)  Exjjeriment  stations  of  the  Federal  and  State  Governments, 

(2)  Federal  scientific  bureaus, 

(3)  Research  foundations  including  museums, 

(4)  Industrial  laboratories, 

(5)  Educational  institutions. 

We  may  consider  them  in  this  order. 

II.       RESEARCH     IN     EXPERIMENT    STATIONS 

When  the  State  and  Federal  Governments  first  established  experiment 
stations  which  were,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  chiefly  devoted  at  the  outset  to 
agricultural  interests,  there  was  great  hope  that  they  would  become  centers 
of  the  most  far-reaching  research.  Many  of  them  have  indeed  accomplished 
work  of  the  very  highest  quality,  but  as  time  has  gone  on  not  a  few — if  I 
may  trust  report — have  found  themselves  increasingly  swamped  with  mere 
routine  detail  of  a  kind  which  represents,  to  be  sure,  a  very  real  public 
service,  but  not  one  which  is  in  any  sense  directly  of  a  research  character. 
Probably  no  one  will  question  the  desirability  of  circulating  as  widely  as 
possible  in  a  potato-raising  district  any  new  information  regarding  the  best 
methods  of  combating  the  enterprising  potato  bug,  but  it  may  certainly  be 
questioned  whether  it  is  a  wise  expenditure  of  the  energy  of  a  man  com- 
petent to  carry  on  fundamental  research  in  entomology  to  permit  his  time 
to  be  monopolized  by  individual  correspondence  with  farmers  desiring  en- 
lightenment on  the  familiar  pests  of  their  own  district.  In  other  words, 
there  has  come  to  be  some  appreciable  and  unfortunate  confusion  of  pur- 
poses, due  in  part  to  the  very  success  of  the  experiment  station,  whereby 
its  function  as  an  essentially  educational  institution,  disseminating  useful 
knowledge,  has  come  to  be  confused  with  its  function  as  a  device  for  in- 
vestigation and  the  procurement  of  new  knowledge.  The  issue  is  in  some 
sense  parallel  with  that  in  our  universities  whore  there  is  constantly  in 
progress  an  active  conflict  between  the  obligations  of  instruction  and  those 
of  research.  The  needs  of  each  must  be  consulted,  but  neither  must  be 
allowed  to  stifle  the  other. 

Moreover,  with  the  growth  of  certain  of  our  experiment  stations  there 
has  arisen  a  lack  of  coordination  between  their  several  divisions  which 
materially  diminishes  the  value  and  the  possibilities  of  their  scientific  out- 
put.    Nowhere  perhaps  is  the  actual  opportunity  for  scientific  cooperation 


•I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  many  scientist.i.  such  as  state  geoloKlsts.  health 
officers,  etc..  working  under  state  auspices,  nor  of  the  unattached  Individual 
scientists  In  various  parts  of  the  country.  But.  I  have  Intended  to  stre.ss  here 
■Imply  the  specific  Institutions  In  which  research  is  of  exclusive  or  considerable 
Interest. 


4 

more  obvious  and  yet — if  Hgain  I  may  trust  rej)ort — there  is  too  often  a 
practical  isolation  of  the  work  of  one  division  from  that  of  another,  with  a 
resultant  loss  in  the  scientific  productivity  of  the  plant.  Whether  these 
difficulties,  where  they  exist,  are  wholly  remediable  by  a  more  thoughtful 
and  effective  organization  at  the  head,  or  whether  they  are  at  present  in- 
digenous to  the  theory  of  the  experiment  station  itself,  I  do  not  know.  To 
an  outsider,  however,  it  would  not  seem  an  insoluble  problem  to  hit  upon 
devices  which  would  assure  frequent  conference  and  intimate  cooperation 
on  the  part  of  the  personnel  of  the  several  divisions  of  such  stations.  That 
a  station  should  be  julministered  substantially  as  a  scientific  unit.  If  it  is 
to  achieve  its  maximal  scientific  productivity,  would  seem  almost  axiomatic. 
It  is  also  reported  that  the  stations  conduct  their  work  in  too  complete 
isolation  from  one  another,  and  that  profitable  opportunities  for  coopera- 
tion are  often  neglected.  If  this  be  true,  it  should  certainly  be  remedied 
as  promptly  as  possible. 

RESEARCH     IX     GOVERNMENT     BUREAUS 

The  conditions  in  the  scientific  bureaus  of  the  Federal  Government  are 
said  to  differ  widely  from  department  to  department.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
the  productivity  of  these  groups  has  been  most  creditable,  but  again,  just 
as  in  the  case  of  the  experiment  stations,  certain  of  them  have  been  deluged 
with  the  obligations  of  routine  detail  connected  with  the  dissemination  of 
knowledge,  with  a  consequent  diminishment  of  their  research  productivity 
which  has  at  times  been  most  lamentable.  Furthermore,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  experiment  stations,  assuming  that  current  report  may  have  some 
foundation  in  fact,  there  has  in  certain  instances  been  not  only  absence  of 
satisfactory  cooperation  as  between  the  subdivisions  of  a  given  department, 
but  there  has  also  been  a  somewhat  complete  isolation  of  the  bureaus  of 
one  department  from  those  of  another.  I  need  not  pause  to  describe  the 
peculiar  Washington  conditions  which  have  led  to  this  regrettable  result.  I 
fancy  I  betray  no  secret,  however,  when  I  say  that  in  general  the  traditional 
attitude  of  the  several  departments  to  one  another  has  not  been  one  of 
active  cooperation.  One  need  not  be  a  wholly  impractical  idealist,  nor 
totally  oblivious  to  the  fundamental  interests  of  the  departments  as  such, 
to  regard  this  situation,  so  far  as  it  is  thus  correctly  described,  as  intrin- 
sically unwholesome  and  probably  unnecessary.  It  must  certainly  result  in 
preventing  to  some  extent  the  maximal  research  productivity  of  the  federal 
bureaus.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  during  the  war  conditions  in  this 
respect  were  markedly  improved,  and  it  may  be  hoped  that  with  the  re- 
sumption of  peace-time  conditons  the  lessons  taught  by  the  war  may  not 
be  wholly  forgotten. 

The  bureaus  rightly  enjoy,  in  some  cases,  splendid  financial  resources 
and  an  unrivaled  prestige  in  the  public  confidence.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
would  be  a  piece  of  obstinate  disregard  of  fact  to  overlook  certain  limita- 
tions under  which  their  research  work  is  carried  on.  For,  once  more,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  experiment  stations,  the  bureaus  are  apt  to  be  subjected 
from  time  to  time  to  irresistible  pressure  to  deal  primarily  with  issues  of 
apparently  immediate  practical  consequence.  It  is  proper  and  inevitable 
that  a  large  part  of  their  energy  should  be  thus  directed.  Public  support 
could  hardly  be  otherwise  commanded,  and  work  of  this  character  is  urgent 
and   essential.     Now,   it   is   well   understood   that   as   a   byproduct   of   such 


practical  experimentation,  scientific  results  of  the  most  fundamental  char- 
acter are  occasionally  achieved.  But,  in  general,  it  can  be  predicted  with 
certainty  that  the  great  far-reaching  contributions,  running  out  in  in- 
numerable practical  directions  and  valuable  for  generations  to  come,  are 
the  results  of  research  in  pure  science  carried  on  without  any  regard  to 
immediate  practical  consequences.  I  would  be  furthest  from  implying  that 
such  research  is  not  conducted  in  government  bureaus.  I  merely  remark 
that  the  almost  inevitable  tendency  is  in  the  other  direction,  and  that  in 
so  far  as  this  is  true,  the  Nation  fails  to  secure  the  largest  possible  returns 
from  its  scientific  stafl".  Moreover,  there  are  necessarily  thrown  about  the 
expenditure  of  funds  for  government  work  certain  arbitrary  restrictions 
which  arise  again  and  again  to  hamper  the  efficiency  of  the  scientific  pro- 
cedure. I  will  not  say  that  these  restrictions  are  inevitable  under  the 
conditions  of  congressional  appropriation  of  funds,  but  I  am  reasonably 
certain  that  they  are  not  likely  to  be  wholly  eliminated  in  any  immediate 
future.  From  this  point  of  view,  private  agencies,  in  many  fields  of  work 
at  least,  enjoy  a  decided  advantage. 

RESEARCH    FOUXDATIOXS 

I  should  include  under  this  heading  not  only  institutions  such  as  the 
Rockefeller  Institute  and  the  Mellon  Institute,  but  also  certain  of  our 
great  museums,  which  possess  funds  available  from  time  to  time  for  strictly 
research  work. 

These  institutions,  when  effectively  manned  and  intelligently  admin- 
istered, are  extremely  productive,  both  in  fields  of  pure  and  of  applied 
science.  They  are  in  a  position  to  bring  together  groups  of  carefully 
selected  experts,  who  can  be  surrounded  with  the  best  of  laboratory  facili- 
ties, and  can  be  given  complete  freedom  from  every  competing  interest. 
The  output  of  such  institutions  affords  already  convincing  evidence  of 
scientific  achievements  of  the  most  valuable  kind.  There  has  been  some 
disposition  to  urge  that  the  great  mass  of  the  research  work  of  the  country 
should  be  carried  on  in  institutes  of  this  character.  Despite  their  undoubted 
advantages  in  many  directions,  they  are  very  costly  to  administer,  and  a 
good  bit  of  their  attractiveness  and  efficiency  would  be  lost  if  they  were 
compelled  to  operate  under  the  conditions  of  state  or  federal  stations, 
which  is  the  only  alternative  when  private  resources  fail.  It  is  probably 
too  early  to  judge  with  confidence  regarding  certain  of  their  limitations, 
but  there  Is  some  reason  to  think  that  there  are  relatively  few  men  of  the 
research  type  who  work  to  Ix-st  advantage  in  conditions  of  so  considerable 
isolation  as  commonly  exists  in  these  institutes.  The  institutes  are  more 
or  less  speciali7x»d,  and  one  of  the  great  and  impressive  lessons  which  the 
war  has  taught  us  concerns  the  unexpected  relationships  which  develop  out 
of  the  pursuit  of  any  of  the  larger  scientific  ])roblems.  A  study  which 
begins  as  a  modest  investigation  of  a  zoological  jirobiem  has  presently  run 
out  into  botany,  physics,  chemistry,  meteorology,  and  goodness  know  what 
else.  There  are  some  advantages,  therefore,  for  the  fundamental  research 
man,  If  he  may  find  himself  in  a  community  containing  a  wide  variety  of 
scientific  interests. 


RESEARCH    IK    INDUSTRIAL    LABORATORIES 

This  group  is  for  the  most  part  concerned  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  with  immediate  practical  issues,  although  some  of  the  larger  industries, 
particularly  those  dealing  with  electrical  problems,  have  already  discovered 
the  potential  value  of  research  in  pure  science. 

There  is  substantially  no  limit  to  the  extent  to  which  research  in  these 
organizations  can  be  carried,  for  it  is  almost  wholly  a  matter  of  organiza- 
tion and  selection  of  a  trained  personnel.  American  industry  has,  as  com- 
pared with  German  industry  at  least,  and  even  with  some  portion  of  British 
industry,  been  astonishingly  backward.  As  will  be  indicated  at  a  later 
point,  the  National  Research  Council  is  making  the  development  of  research 
in  the  industries  one  of  its  principal  fields  of  activity.  Perhaps  the  most 
serious  limitation  in  the  administration  of  these  research  laboratories  at 
present,  apart  from  their  dominant  concern  for  immediate  practical  issues, 
is  the  extent  to  which  in  some  organizations  the  individual  scientist  is  kept 
out  of  contact  with  the  work  of  his  fellows  in  their  attack  upon  difficulties 
of  industrial  or  manufacturing  procedure.  Such  isolation  is  at  times  de- 
manded in  the  supposed  interest  of  preserving  trade  secrets;  at  times  it 
is  a  mere  byproduct  of  the  form  in  which  the  research  work  is  organized. 
In  either  case,  it  tends  to  detract  somewhat  both  from  the  interest  and  the 
dignity  of  the  occupation,  and,  at  least  in  the  long  run,  to  detract  also  from 
the  rapidity  of  scientific  advance.  The  attitude  of  mind  generated  in  a 
scientist  working  in  a  laboratory  of  this  type  is  necessarily  somewhat  hostile 
to  that  which  has  now  become  traditional  in  other  fields  of  research.  The 
obligation  to  give  publicity  to  new  discoveries  in  science  is  everywhere  else 
held  to  be  mandatory.  Here  the  obligation  is  of  a  precisely  opposite  char- 
acter, and  the  scientist  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the  anthithesis  between 
the  supposed  financial  interests  of  his  employer  and  the  interests  of  his 
competitors  and  of  the  general  public. 

RESEARCH    IK   EDUCATIOXAL   INSTITUTIONS 

The  colleges,  technical  schools,  and  universities  of  the  country  sustain 
a  double  relation  to  the  research  enterprises  of  the  Nation.  On  the  one 
hand,  in  these  institutions,  and  particularly  the  last  named,  there  has  been 
conducted  throughout  the  last  generation  far  the  larger  part  of  the  re- 
search in  pure  science,  with  a  very  considerable  representation  of  research 
in  applied  science  in  technical  institutions  and  the  professional  departments 
of  the  universities.  On  the  other  hand,  these  institutions  are  at  present 
the  sole  source  from  which  is  derived  the  trained  personnel  from  which  the 
remaining  research  agencies  are  recruited.  In  dealing  with  the  problem 
of  research  in  such  institutions,  this  double  function  must  be  kept  con- 
stantly in  mind.  Not  only  are  we  under  obligation  to  safeguard  and  im- 
prove the  conditions  of  research  itself,  but  also,  and  in  perhaps  greater 
measure,  to  look  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  highest  class  of  re- 
search men  can  be  produced.     Both  quantity  and  quality  must  be  improved. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  the  most  serious  limitation  of 
the  research  productivity  of  these  institutions  is  occasioned  by  the  over- 
whelming burden  of  classroom  instruction  which  many  of  the  men  are 
obliged  to  carry.  Such  classroom  work  is  not  only  destructive  to  research 
because  of  the  sheer  intellectual  and  physical   fatigue  which  it  occasions. 


but  also,  and  perhaps  more  significantly,  because  of  the  interruption  to  at- 
tention and  the  close  observation  of  critical  phenomena  which  it  compels. 
In  some  fortunate  institutions  provision  has  been  made  for  considerable 
periods  of  uninterrupted  research  work,  and  again,  in  certain  other  institu- 
tions men  can  so  arrange  their  teaching  duties  as  to  secure  freedom  in 
certain  portions  of  each  week.  But,  in  general,  university  research  is  carried 
on  in  the  interstices  of  other  duties,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  so  much 
of  it  is  produced,  and  that  on  the  whole  it  is  of  so  respectable  a  character. 

Again,  many  institutions  in  this  group  are  seriously  limited  in  the 
physical  facilities  which  they  are  able  to  put  at  the  disposal  of  their  men. 
Much  admirable  research  has  thus  been  crippled  at  the  very  outset. 

In  the  training  of  personnel  the  same  difficulties  recur,  with  the  added 
difficulty,  now  much  aggravated  by  the  prodigious  increase  in  the  cost  of 
life,  that  the  research  career  is  even  less  attractive  than  in  the  immediate 
past.  The  Nation  must  be  aroused  to  a  full  appreciation  of  all  that  this 
implies  in  the  decadence  of  our  position  in  the  scientific  and  industrial  world. 
So  far  from  being  in  a  position  successfully  to  survive  a  decrease  in  this 
personnel,  we  need  a  very  great  increase  in  the  number  and  a  great  advance 
in  the  quality  of  the  men  entering  upon  this  career.  The  answer  is  obvious, 
even  simple  i.  e.,  salaries  for  research  men  must  be  very  materially  increased, 
the  conditions  of  work  must  be  made  intrinsically  far  more  attractive  and, 
if  possible,  there  must  be  secured  a  larger  and  more  intelligent  public  appre- 
ciation of  the  social  contribution  made  by  the  successful  investigator. 

One  serious  shortcoming  of  the  research  functions  of  educational  in- 
stitutions as  at  present  administered  is  the  substantially  complete  lack  of 
any  rational  program  for  dividing  among  themselves  the  field  of  research. 
Many  institutions  have  as  a  consequence  of  this  fact  been  tempted  into  the 
eflfort  to  develop  research  in  many  lines  of  work  which  they  ought  never  to 
have  undertaken.  State  institutions  in  particular  are  often  exposed  to 
pressure,  which  they  find  it  difficult  to  resist,  to  set  up  new  departments, 
many  of  them  implying  research  as  part  of  their  work,  where  such  depart- 
ments are  in  no  educational  sense  at  all  justified.  There  must  certainly  be 
a  careful  study  of  this  situation  with  at  least  informal  cooperation  among 
the  universities,  if  we  are  in  any  degree  to  reap  the  largest  harvest  from 
our  research  possibilities.  To  multiply  indefinitely  the  same  type  of  re- 
search work  in  an  unlimited  number  of  institutions  condemns  us  at  once 
to  a  most  wasteful  expenditure,  both  for  material  and  personnel,  with  no 
possible  corresponding  advantage. 

This  sketch  of  the  research  facilities  of  the  country  makes  no  pretense 
of  being  exhaustive,  but  it  may  at  least  serve  to  indicate  the  major  groups 
of  agencie.'j,  and  something  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  re- 
search is  conducted  in  each  of  them.  My  purpose  has  been  to  suggest  the 
very  varied  conditions  which  exist  in  order  to  make  clear  that  any  funda- 
mental program  directed  to  the  improvement  of  our  national  efficiency  in 
all  this  matter  must  take  constant  account  of  the  complexity  of  the  problem 
and  provide  for  such  methods  as  the  exigencies  of  each  group  may  require. 


III.      OBOAMIZATION    AND    COOPERATION    IN    RESEARCH* 

It  is  a  not  infrequent  remark,  and  one  which  I  believe  to  be  measurably 
just,  that  science  despite  its  magnification  of  method  has  never  seriously 
worked  out  the  method  of  its  own  organization.  For  the  most  part,  it  has 
thus  far  rested  on  individual  initiative  and  on  such  loose  forms  of  coopera- 
tion as  are  based  upon  the  magnetic  or  coercive  personality  of  some  one 
scientific  man.  Assuredly,  nobody  expects  to  achieve  a  system  of  scientific 
progress  which  will  in  any  sense  be  independent  of  the  presence  of  com- 
manding intellects;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  scientific  men  have  as  yet 
only  achieved  the  most  elementary  beginnings  of  the  organization  of  scien- 
tific interests.  Indeed,  it  has  been  something  of  a  fetish  among  scientists 
that  we  must  rely  upon  individual  inspiration  and  initiative,  and  that  the 
individual  worker  must  be  safeguarded  in  every  possible  way  from  the 
corroding  influence  of  administrative  organization.  It  has  unfortunately 
been  generally  assumed  that  an  organization  which  interests  itself  in  re- 
search will  inevitably  exercise  such  a  depressive  influence  on  the  research 
worker.  This  I  believe  to  be  essentially  untrue  in  theory,  and  I  am  at  the 
moment  connected  with  an  organization  which  is  directing  all  its  energies 
to  proving  it  untrue  in  fact.  No  doubt  there  will  always  be  wide  ranges 
of  scientific  work  where  the  individual  must  toil  more  or  less  alone,  but  on 
the  other  hand,  no  one  who  has  thoughtfully  contemplated  the  conditions 
under  which  modern  science  does  its  work  can  have  failed  to  be  impressed 
with  the  innumerable  unimproved  opportunities  for  cooperation. 

In  the  first  place,  we  have,  through  processes  which  I  need  not  stop  to 
describe,  parceled  out  the  field  of  knowledge  to  a  great  group  of  sciences 
each  of  which  is,  perhaps  not  unnaturally,  disposed  to  claim  supreme  juris- 
diction over  its  own  bit  of  territory.  The  world  of  science  has  thus  come  to 
present  somewhat  the  appearance  of  an  English  landscape  with  its  checker- 
board efi'ect  of  small  fields  set  off  Trom  one  another  by  high,  impenetrable 
hedges.  To  one  who  toils  inside  such  a  field,  the  universe  is  limited  by  his 
own  hedge-row,  and  inside  it  he  desires  to  be  left  in  peace  to  cultivate  his 
crop  as  best  may  suit  him.  The  parable  has  of  course  its  element  of  ex- 
aggeration, but  it  is  unfortunately  not  so  much  exaggerated  as  one  might 
wish,  and  there  are  not  a  few  scientists  whose  thought  and  speech  would 
seem  to  indicate  an  amazing  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  intellectual  con- 
text of  their  own  work. 

The  actual  fact,  of  course,  is  that  the  dividing  lines  of  science  are,  like 
the  hedge-row,  in  large  measure  arbitrary  and  practical,  and  consequently 
subject  to  persistent  modification.  Practically  speaking,  chemistry  and 
physics  are  profitably  conducted  as  separate  sciences,  and  yet  they  overlap 
and  impinge  upon  one  another  in  ways  which  have  already  created  the 
border  science  of  ph3'sical  chemistry.  Botany  and  zoology  have  similar 
relationships.  Chemistry  and  physiology  are  neighbors  of  the  most  intimate 
kind.  Psychology  and  neurology  can  hardly  get  along  the  one  without  the 
other.  And  so  it  goes.  Now  under  the  present  organization  of  science — or 
lack  of  it — there  is  no  localized  responsibility  for  bringing  together  in  co- 
operative enterprises  research  workers  occupying  fields  that  are  thus  con- 
vergent or  overlapping.     There  is  genuine  need  for  such  cooperative  work 


•The  subjects  discussed  in  the  remaining  sections  of  this  paper  were  touched 
upon  In  similar  form  in  an  address  before  the  Association  of  American  Univer- 
sities at  the  meeting  held  November  7,   1919,   at   Columbus,   Ohio. 


9 

in  many  different  directions  and  one  of  the  first  obligations  of  any  method 
adopted  to  further  the  general  interests  of  scientific  research  must  be  the 
providing  for  investigations  which  shall  thus  bring  together  the  scientists 
now  occupying  neighboring  but  distinct  fields. 

Obviously  organization  in  research  must  involve  something  substantially 
different  from  organization  in  enterprises  of  other  kinds,  for  example,  war, 
industry,  sport,  and  exploration.  Organization,  I  take  it,  looks  primarily 
to  the  efficient  mustering  of  all  the  resources  available  for  a  given  under- 
taking, and  as  the  ends  desired  vary,  so  do  the  means  for  their  attainment. 
In  war,  the  individuality  of  the  private  solcjier  must  be  in  large  measure 
subordinated  to  the  conception  of  the  high  command,  and  while  any  ideas 
he  may  have  to  offer  may  theoretically  be  received,  in  practice  his  initiative 
is  reduced  close  to  the  zero  point  through  the  larger  part  of  his  service. 
Obedience,  rather  than  initiative,  is  the  first  military  virtue.  Similarly  in 
industry,  ideas  are  desired  and  generally  encouraged,  but  nevertheless  in 
the  stress  of  the  day's  work,  each  individual  workman  must  play  his  pre- 
viously assigned  part,  play  it  promptly  and  without  debate,  become  in  short 
a  cog  in  the  great  machine;  otherwise  production  is  blocked  and  economic 
disaster  may  be  the  result.  Initiative  and  ingenuity  are  essential  at  the 
top  of  the  organization.  Moreover,  ideas  supplied  from  workers  at  any 
level  of  the  process  are  in  progressive  industries  welcome,  but  the  actual 
application  of  them  to  the  procedure  in  hand  must  ordinarily  come  from 
above  and  the  individual  unit  in  the  machine  must  function  more  or  less 
mechanically. 

Evidently  organization  in  research  calls  for  quite  a  different  distribu- 
tion of  effort.  Individual  initiative,  resourcefulness,  ingenuity,  imagination, 
vision,  must  be  kept  at  a  high  pitch  all  along  the  line.  Here  we  are  not 
concerned  with  quantity  production  of  a  stereotyped  product,  of  which  the 
hundred-thousandth  specimen  shall  exactly  resemble  the  first.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  product  is  in  some  sense  constantly  varied  and  unless  it  prove  to 
be  varied,  the  process  has  failed  of  its  purpose,  has  degenerated  into  mere 
hack  work,  or  has  i)een  based  on  essentially  mistaken  principles.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  conception  not  infrequently  entertained  that  the  research 
man  is  necessarily  the  genius  working  in  seclusion  is  essentially  untrue  to 
most  of  the  facts.  Many  a  genius  works  in  seclusion  and  all  research  men 
must  be  free  to  work  undisturbed  at  the  task  in  hand;  but  there  are  many 
forms  of  scientific  problems  whose  solution  is  essential  to  the  modern  world, 
which  are  so  complex  that  no  one  scientist  is  equipped  to  deal  with  them 
single-handed.  Either  they  must  wait  for  their  solution  upon  the  accidental 
arousal  of  interest  in  the  appropriate  group,  or  there  must  be  some  definite 
purposeful  cooperation  established.  The  great  fundamental  discoveries 
may  perhaps,  as  a  rule,  await  the  wholly  spontaneous  efforts  of  the  great 
genius,  but  many  discoveries  of  the  utmost  value  to  humanity  have  come 
from  the  somewhat  accidental  observations  of  men  of  essentially  moderate 
talents.  And  not  only  so,  but  a  very  large  fraction  of  the  progress  in  our 
scientific  knowledge  in  the  last  50  years  has  come  not  from  the  work  of 
the  occasional  genius,  but  from  the  hard,  persistent,  thoughtful  investiga- 
tions of  men  who  would  never  be  classed  as  geniuses  in  any  ordinary  sense, 
but  rather  as  trained  men  of  large  native  ability.  This  group  of  men  are 
more  often  than  not,  eager  for  those  forms  of  contact  with  other  scientific 
workers  which  shall  enlarge  their  own  outlook  upon  the  problems  with  whic) 


10 

they  are  engaged  and  which  shall  enable  them  to  pursue  more  effectively 
their  individual  researches.  For  such  men  betterment  of  the  machinery  of 
scientific  cooperation  and  the  dissemination  of  useful  scientific  information 
involves  not  only  no  invasion  of  their  individual  initiative,  but  often  is  the 
condition  of  its  successful  expression. 

To  put  it  in  slightly  different  form,  and  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  one 
may  say  that  a  fairly  prevalent  conception  of  research  associates  it  with 
the  somewhat  mystical  intellectual  operations  of  the  genius,  or  "near-genius," 
to  tamper  with  which  is  a  kind  of  profanation.  In  this  view  one  must 
simply  wait  upon  the  deliverances  of  fate.  To  attempt  to  assist  by  any 
devices  of  organization  is  futile.  Asa  matter  of  fact,  large  areas  of  the  most 
needed  research  lie  in  territory  where  properly  trained  men  of  talent,  given 
proper  conditions  of  work,  may  produce  constantly  and  in  increasing 
measure  results  of  the  utmost  consequence.  But  one  of  the  conditions  of 
maximal  efficiency  is  that  they  shall  work  inside  the  framework  of  a  gen- 
eral program  in  which  there  is  intelligent  cooperation  in  the  allocation  of 
the  field  and  in  the  constant  communication  of  results  achieved.  Such 
distribution  of  responsibility  and  effort  is  entirely  consonant  with  the  fullest 
actual  initiative  which  any  scientist  can  desire.  No  one  compels  him  to 
investigate  where  he  does  not  desire  so  to  do,  but  by  a  centralized  device 
for  planning,  he  can  make  his  effort  count  for  far  more  than  when  he  works 
wholly  alone.  This  is  as  true  of  the  zones  of  pure  science  as  it  is  of  the 
regions  of  applied  science  where  organization  is  often  thought  of  as  less 
foreign  to  the  ends  sought.  Indeed  in  the  research  laboratories  of  a  few 
of  the  great  industries  such  cooperation  has  produced  the  most  remarkable 
results. 

Even  if  organization  in  research  meant  no  more  than  thoughtful  dis- 
cussion and  planning  among  a  group  of  men  engaged  in  the  same  lines  of 
work,  it  would  be  immensely  worth  while.  For  example,  here  are  a  dozen 
forestry  experts  in  position  to  determine  the  research  problems  which 
shall  be  first  attacked  by  the  staffs  of  a  dozen  different  organizations.  If 
there  be  no  contact  among  them,  they  may  all  decide  to  start  upon  exactly 
the  same  problem,  or  upon  utterly  disconnected  problems.  Undoubtedly, 
some  excellent  results  may  emerge  under  such  conditions.  And  yet  nothing 
is  more  certain  than  that  the  energies  of  the  entire  company  could  have 
been  invested  to  far  better  purpose  with  much  less  of  wasted  effort  had 
there  been  intelligent  planning  before  work  began.  There  is  abundant 
practical  experience  to  justify  this  conclusion.  Repeatedly  it  has  occurred 
that  men  working  in  entire  ignorance  of  what  others  in  their  field  were 
doing  have  traversed  the  same  ground  and  with  results  which  in  no  wise 
justified  the  wasted  effort. 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  organization  in  research  means  much  more 
than  this.  Many  highly  important  projects,  as  we  have  observed  before, 
involve  for  their  execution  the  converging  efforts  of  men  in  different  fields 
of  science,  and  in  applied  science  in  particular.  The  agencies  interested 
in  improvement  of  methods  must  at  times  come  together  to  set  in  motion 
the  necessary  research  work,  or  it  will  not  get  done.  Furthermore,  the 
technique  for  the  prompt  and  convenient  dissemination  of  information  re- 
garding discoveries  in  research  is  at  present  lamentably  imperfect,  and  we 
shall  never  capitalize  our  scientific  energies  at  anything  like  their  full  value 
until  this  condition  is  removed. 


11 

Cooperation  in  research  may  be  profitably  developed,  first,  as  between 
scientists  working  upon  related  problems  in  the  same  general  field — say 
physics;  second,  as  between  scientists  in  different  but  adjacent  fields — 
e.  g.,  chemistry  and  biology;  third,  as  between  scientists  in  different  coun- 
tries, where  such  cooperation  is  often  essential  to  success;  fourth,  as  be- 
tween agencies  like  the  industries  requiring  the  benefits  of  research;  fifth, 
as  between  organizations,  e.  g.,  government  bureaus,  experiment  stations, 
and  universities;  and  sixth,  by  improvements  in  methods  of  rendering 
easily  accessible  information  regarding  scientific  discoveries. 

As  practical  illustrations  of  the  type  of  thing  we  have  in  mind  may 
be  mentioned  certain  of  the  problems  of  public  health;  for  example,  sewage 
disposal  presents  a  question  in  which  the  organic  chemist,  the  colloid 
chemist,  and  the  sanitary  engineer  are  all  necesarily  involved.  The  National 
Research  Council  has  secured  the  services  of  a  very  representative  com- 
mitttee  to  study  the  fundamental  problems  of  food  and  nutrition,  a  prob- 
lem which  in  this  same  way  represents  the  combined  interests  of  a  consider- 
able group  of  sciences.  The  successful  solution  of  the  problem  cannot  be 
reached  without  the  cooperation  of  men  representing  these  distinct  but 
related  fields  of  science.  One  of  the  most  promising  ranges  of  contem- 
porary research  is  in  that  borderline  group  of  problems  in  which  the 
biologist,  the  chemist,  and  the  medical  scientist  find  their  interests  con- 
verging. A  physiological  chemist,  however  learned  he  may  be,  is  compelled 
to  turn  from  time  to  time  for  scientific  assistance  to  one  or  other  specialist 
in  this  group  of  neighboring  sciences.  Indeed,  it  is  practically  impossible 
to  pitch  upon  any  problem  in  modern  life  whose  complete  solution  does  not 
involve  an  appeal  to  several  lines  of  scientific  approach.  In  certain  cases, 
through  more  or  less  happy  accident,  the  required  scientific  cooperation  is 
easily  secured,  but  in  many  instances  there  has  been  no  adequate  provision 
for  securing  such  combined  attack. 

Again,  within  the  field  of  any  one  of  the  great  sciences,  there  is  op- 
portunity for  a  kind  of  cooperation  in  research  which  has  never  been 
undertaken  on  any  large  scale  and  which  can,  if  properly  stimulated  and 
guided,  produce  results  of  the  highest  consequence.  For  example,  there 
is  at  the  present  moment  being  considered  by  the  National  Research  Coun- 
cil a  nation-wide  investigation  of  the  problem  of  reforestration  such  as  no 
extant  single  agency  can  hopefully  attack.  Similarly,  it  is  hoped  to  study 
the  problems  of  soil  fertilizers  in  different  regions  of  the  country  by  means 
of  cooperative  effort  in  a  considerable  group  of  appropriate  agencies. 

In  certain  ranges  of  science  there  is  not  only  necessity  for  the  coopera- 
tion of  individual  scientists,  working  on  different  aspects  of  the  same 
central  problem,  but  here  is  also  need  for  international  cooperation.  One 
only  needs  to  cite  such  problems  as  those  of  astronomy,  seismology,  me- 
teorology, and  terrestrial  magnetism  to  appreciate  how  essential  simultaneous 
observations  at  various  points  of  the  earth's  surface  may  be.  In  such  cases, 
international  cooperation  is  absolutely  indispensable.  Nor  are  the  forms 
of  profitable  international  scientific  cooperation  in  research  confined  to 
the  spheres  of  astronomy  and  the  major  phenomena  of  the  behavior  of  the 
earth's  surface.  The  study  of  the  behavior  of  plants  and  animals  under 
certain  standard  conditions  will  afford  numerous  instances  in  point. 

Perhaps  the  most  obvious  illustrations  of  the  possibilities  of  successful 
cooperative   investigation    are    represented    in    certain    forms   of   industrial 


12 

research  where  a  group  of  producers  come  together  and  establish  a  research 
organization,  cither  establishing  lal)oratories  of  their  own  for  this  purpose, 
or  utilizing  extant  laboratories  through  which  they  can  arrange  for  the 
admittance  of  their  investigators.  It  is  of  course  well  understood  that 
certain  of  the  great  manufacturing  industries,  particularly  those  connected 
with  the  development  of  electricity,  have  developed  laboratories  of  the 
most  elaborate  kind  and  of  a  very  high  degree  of  efficiency.  But  the 
smaller  concern  cannot  afford  to  develop  its  own  scientific  staflP,  and  con- 
sequently the  cooperative  device  is  found  to  be  the  best  substitute.  This 
process,  which  has  been  carried  to  a  considerable  development  in  Great 
Britain,  is  being  rapidly  fostered  in  this  country  and  gives  promise  of  ex- 
tremely valuable  results.  Several  diiferent  methods  of  procedure  are  feas- 
ible, but  time  will  not  permit  further  discussion  of  the  matter  here. 

Finally,  one  may  mention  the  types  of  cooperation  in  research  which 
may  be  achieved  by  the  establishment  of  more  intimate  contact  between 
the  organizations  and  institutions  now  actually  engaged  in  such  work.  As 
has  been  already  indicated,  we  have  at  present,  as  the  main  features  of 
our  national  research  equipment,  certain  of  the  scientific  bureaus  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  several  States,  certain  large  research  founda- 
tions, including  a  few  of  the  great  museums,  a  group  of  research  enter- 
prises in  the  industries,  and  the  research  work  done  in  our  universities.  In 
each  of  these,  individuals  are  at  work  on  problems  which,  so  far  as  is 
known  to  the  men  engaged  upon  them,  are  at  the  moment  not  under  attack 
elsewhere.  But  our  present  organization  is  totally  devoid  of  any  adequate 
means  for  securing  information  as  to  the  research  work  at  a  given  time  in 
progress.  In  consequence,  it  repeatedly  happens  that  men  are  found  to  have 
been  working  on  common  problems,  investing  time  and  energy  which  might 
have  been  expended  to  far  better  effect  could  they  have  been  brought  in 
touch  with  one  another  and  have  learned  each  what  the  other  had  to  give 
in  the  way  of  knowledge  already  ascertained.  In  the  case  of  the  industrial 
laboratory,  both  the  economics  and  the  ethics  of  the  case  render  it  improper 
that  information  should  be  disseminated  as  to  what  is  being  learned.  Even 
scientific  men  working  alone  as  individuals  have  oftentimes  been  extremely 
jealous  of  their  prerogatives  in  the  matter  of  priority  of  scientific  discovery, 
and  have  treated  their  work  somewhat  in  the  spirit  of  the  trade  secret  of 
the  industries.  But  over  against  this  relatively  small  group  there  has 
always  been  a  larger  and  more  open-minded  body  of  scientists  eager  to  learn 
whatever  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  their  own  researches,  and  willing 
and  ready  to  communicate  to  others  whatever  they  had  to  offer  of  worth. 
Generally  speaking,  the  ethics  of  scientific  research  outside  the  industrial 
laboratory  is  rapidly  coming  to  a  point  which  commends  and  demands 
publicity.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  this  condition  has  already  sub- 
stantially arrived.  Men  are  eager  for  more  prompt  and  adequate  means 
of  publication  of  scientific  work,  and  one  of  the  crying  defects  in  the  scien- 
tific situation  as  a  whole,  one  which  is  far  more  serious  in  some  branches 
of  science  than  in  others,  is  the  need,  first,  for  a  central  clearing  house  of 
information  regarding  current  research  work  and  its  status  from  month  to 
month  and  year  to  year;  and  second,  far  more  complete  and  more  eflFective 
modes  of  publication  of  scientific  results.  Publication  needs  to  be  more 
prompt,  and  needs  to  be  accompanied  by  much  more  adequate  methods 
of  abstracting  and  indexing  than  at  present  are  in  operation.    To  these 


13 

problems,  also,  the  National  Research  Council,  through  its  Division  of 
Research  Information,  is  turning  its  hand,  and  we  hope  to  be  able  not 
only  to  point  the  way  to  better  conditions,  but  also  to  make  a  substantial 
beginning  in  the  actual  improvement  of  these  conditions.  I  will  not  pause 
to  discuss  the  entire  program  of  this  service,  but  I  may  simply  say  in 
passing  that  it  contemplates  catalogues  of  research  laboratories,  of  current 
investigations,  sources  of  information,  laboratory  facilities,  catalogues  of 
scientific  and  technical  societies  with  indices  of  foreign  reports,  and  a  some- 
what detailed  program  for  the  improvement  of  scientific  publications,  with 
particular  regard  to  systems  of  abstracting  and  indexing. 

IV.       ORGANIZATION     OF     NATIONAL     RESEARCH     COUNCIL 

To  assist  in  meeting  some  of  the  needs  of  scientific  organization  in  the 
United  States,  the  National  Research  Council  has  been  organized.  It  at- 
tempts to  achieve  in  a  democracy,  and  by  democratic  methods,  such  a 
mobilization  of  the  scientific  resources  of  the  country  as  shall  permit  their 
most  effective  use  not  only  in  times  of  crisis  such  as  war,  but  also  con- 
tinuously in  times  of  peace.  The  German  Government  had  succeeded  under 
autocratic  methods  in  carrying  such  organization  to  a  high  degree  of  per- 
fection and  had  procured  the  most  striking  results  not  only  in  the  military 
administration,  but  also  throughout  the  entire  field  of  industry.  Whether 
we  shall  be  equally  successful  under  the  voluntary  extra-governmental 
plan  which  we  are  developing  remains  to  be  seen.  It  may,  however,  be  said 
at  the  outset  that,  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  opinion  of  scientific  men  is  sub- 
stantially unanimous  that  in  our  country  an  enterprise  of  this  character 
can  only  reach  its  highest  possibilities  when  freed  from  the  restraint  of 
government  control.  This,  however,  should  in  no  wise  be  understood  as 
reflecting  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  scientific  work  carried  on  by  the  various 
departments  of  the  Government.  It  does,  however,  argue  a  widespread 
conviction  based  on  experience  that  these  departments,  despite  their  many 
great  advantages,  must  of  necessity  work  under  limitations  of  a  very 
definite  and  often  unfortunate  kind. 

As  the  first  step  in  securing  a  democratic  foundation,  the  National 
Research  Council  is  based  upon  the  election  of  members  by  the  great 
scientific  societies  of  the  Nation,  some  40  being  represented  in  the  present 
roster  with  a  constituent  personnel  running  up  into  the  thousands.  These 
representatives  from  the  scientific  societies  are  organized  in  divisions,  of 
which  there  are  seven  representing  science  and  technology.  Each  such 
division  elects  a  chairman,  who  becomes  a  salaried  officer  of  the  Council, 
resident  in  Washington  for  one  year,  and  in  charge,  together  with  an  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  his  division,  of  the  scientific  work  to  which  the  division 
decides  to  set  its  hand.  Provision  is  made  for  a  certain  number  of  mem- 
bers of  each  division  to  be  selected  at  large,  thereby  insuring  as  far  as 
possible  the  presence  of  a  thoroughly  representative  scientific  group,  for 
it  may  at  times  happen  that  some  important  scientific  interest  is  by  accident 
omitted  in  the  elections  from  the  societies. 

The  Council  has  also  six  so-called  general  divisions  whose  officials  are 
appointed  by  the  executive  board  of  the  Council,  and  who  conduct  the 
work  of  the  divisions  much  as  in  the  case  of  the  science  and  technology 
group.  The  personnel  of  these  divisions  is  determined  by  the  executive 
board,  with  the  exception  of  a   few  persons  who  arc  ex  officio  members. 


14 

These  divisions  cover  the  Federal  Government,  foreign  relations,  the  states 
relations,  education,  industrial  relations,  and  research  information. 

The  government  division  has  upon  it  representatives  of  each  of  the 
scientific  bureaus  of  the  Government,  and  is  intended  to  foster,  so  far  as 
possible,  cooperation  among  such  bureaus  and  among  the  outside  scientific 
agencies  worlting  on  similar  problems. 

The  foreign  relations  division  has  to  do  with  foreign  scientific  societies. 
An  International  Research  Council  was  established  at  Brussels  during  the 
past  summer,  and  will  take  the  place  of  the  old  international  associations 
and  unions  which,  in  forms  somewhat  modified  by  the  war,  will  comprise 
the  international  unions  organized  under  the  International  Research  Council. 

The  states  relations  division  concerns  itself  with  the  attempt  to  foster 
helpful  cooperative  relations  among  the  scientific  bureaus  and  other  scien- 
tific organizations  of  the  several  States.  There  appears  to  be  opportunity 
here  for  an  outside  disinterested  agency  to  render  very  great  assistance. 

The  educational  division  has  to  do  with  the  interests  of  research  in 
educational  institutions  in  all  its  aspects.  This  division  is  beginning  its 
work  by  a  careful  study  of  the  actual  facilities  for  research  in  our  Ameri- 
can educational  institutions.  It  is  hoped  that  by  bringing  together  re- 
liable information  about  these  conditions  it  may  be  possible  to  formulate 
a  more  effective  program  for  the  utilization  of  such  resources  as  we  now 
enjoy,  for  the  improvement  of  the  same  and  for  the  development  of  a  larger 
number  of  better  trained  research  men.  Any  rational  adjustment  of  the 
program  of  research  development  in  our  universities,  such  as  was  referred 
to  earlier  in  this  paper,  involves  a  careful  preliminary  scrutiny  of  the 
extant  situation.  There  are  some  types  of  research  work  whose  develop- 
ment can  be  justified  only  at  a  limited  number  of  institutions.  To  have  a 
great  group  of  universities  each  attempting  to  do  such  work  is  wasteful 
of  personnel  and  material  resources  alike.  We  shall  hardly,  however,  be 
able  to  move  on  to  a  saner  distribution  of  scientific  effort  until  we  know 
more  precisely  what  are  the  actual  facts  in  the  case,  much  less  can  we  edu- 
cate public  opinion  to  accept  a  reasonable  distribution  of  responsibility. 

The  industrial  research  division  has  as  its  work  the  stimulation  of 
research  in  the  industries.  It  seeks  particularly  to  bring  into  contact  in- 
dustrial groups,  interested  in  improving  their  scientific  technique  with 
scientific  men  and  agencies  competent  to  render  the  necessary  assistance. 

The  research  information  service  involves  a  program  in  many  ways 
the  most  unique  which  the  Council  has  to  offer,  in  its  attempt  to  create 
mechanisms  for  giving  prompt  and  accurate  information  regarding  not 
only  the  finished  products  of  research  of  all  kinds  and  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  but  also  the  conditions  in  current  research.  Its  general  intentions 
have  already  been  briefly  described  and  need  not  be  repeated. 

Taken  in  its  entirety  the  work  of  the  Council  is  to  be  understood  as 
primarily  one  of  stimulation  of  research  in  both  pure  and  applied  science, 
and  in  the  creation  of  an  enlarged  and  better  trained  research  personnel, 
with  particular  emphasis  upon  the  securing  of  cooperation  wherever  this 
can  be  profitably  accomplished — cooperation  as  described  above  among  scien- 
tists in  the  same  field  working  on  different  aspects  of  a  common  problem, 
cooperation  among  scientists  in  different  fields,  whether  at  home  or  abroad, 
studying   a   group   of   related   problems,   cooperation   among   research   or- 


35 

ganizations,   and,   finally,   cooperation    among    agencies    which    require    the 
services  of  research  men  and  research  organizations. 

The  Council  is  itself  frankly  a  piece  of  research,  a  great  experiment, 
whose  outcome  we  await  with  undisguised  interest.  Its  purposes  are  worthy 
beyond  question.  If  its  methods  be  unsound,  better  ones  must  and  will 
be  devised.  Meantime  it  invites  your  sympathetic  support  and  offers  you 
whatever  service  it  can  render. 

The  President.  The  discussion  of  this  important  topic  will  be  opened 
by  Dean  R.  W.  Thatcher  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

R.  W.  Thatcher.  I  am  interested  in  the  statements  made  by  both  Dr. 
Jordan  and  Dr.  Angell  to  the  effect  that  there  is  great  need  for  the  devel- 
opment of  personnel  with  a  view  of  promoting  research.  The  subsidizing  of 
prospective  research  workers  is  an  imj)ortant  matter  and  likewise  the  re- 
sponsibility of  those  subsidized.  There  are  plenty  of  good  arguments 
in  favor  of  subsidizing  young  men  through  scholarships,  fellowships,  etc., 
in  order  that  they  may  prepare  themselves  for  research  work;  but  some- 
times such  young  men  consider  themselves  objects  of  charity,  sometimes, 
on  the  contrary,  they  are  more  mindful  of  their  own  assumed  rights  than  of 
those  of  the  institution  that  deals  with  them.  Perhaps  we  carry  philan- 
thropy too  far;  sometimes  it  is  better  to  allow  young  men  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  research  work  at  their  own  proper  expense. 

Dr.  Angell  has  presented  a  critical  review  of  the  agencies  for  the  pro- 
motion of  research  work  and  the  development  of  personnel.  I  have  planned 
to  discuss  the  means  by  which  additional  public  support  for  research, 
particularly  agricultural  research,  can  be  secured.  I  am  not  sure  whether 
this  covers  a  phase  of  the  problem  which  the  Executive  Committee  had  in 
mind  when  they  selected  this  topic  for  discussion  at  this  meeting.  I  sup- 
pose that  the  question  of  possible  resuscitation  of  research  might  be  sup- 
posed to  mean  that  research  is  in  a  dying  or  comatose  condition.  I  have 
not  felt  that  such  was  the  case.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  experiences  of 
the  war  have  led  to  a  new  appreciation  of  the  value  of  research  work  and 
that  there  never  was  a  time  when  there  was  so  insistent  and  so  consistent  a 
demand  for  thorough  research  as  at  the  present  time.  I  suppose  it  is  fair 
then  to  raise  the  question,  whether  this  war-time  public  interest  in  and 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  research  has  waned  or  whether  this  question  is 
merely  one  of  how  to  capitalize  the  present  interest  in  this  work  into  a 
policy  which  shall  work  out  in  permanent  good.  I  susjM^ct  that  there  is 
the  fear  at  least  that  public  interest  is  or  will  be  waning  and  that  public 
support  is  going  to  be  hard  to  obtain.  For  that  reason,  I  have  chosen  to 
discuss  this  j)hase  of  the  problem  and  assume  that  a  brief  discussion  of 
certain  fundamental  facts  in  the  present  situation  as  it  appears  to  me  will 
not  be  out  of  order. 

As  I  see  it,  there  are  three  distinct  types  of  forces  which  have  exerted 
in  the  past  and  are  exerting  at  present  pronounced  influence  is  stimulating 
interest  in  and  providing  funds  for  the  support  of  research.  These  are, 
respectively,  industrial  or  economic  necessity,  personal  or  corporate  philan- 
thropy and  educational  policy.  As  specific  effects  of  these  three  types  of 
influence,  I  may  mention,  first,  the  research  which  is  being  carried  on  in 
connection  with  the  regular  work  of  manufacturing  enterprises,  factories, 
smelters,    etc.;    second,    that    which    is    su|)ported    and    endowed    by    cor- 


16 

porations  like  the  Rockefeller  Institute,  etc.;  and  third,  the  publicly 
supported  research  work  which  is  a  part  of  every  important  educational 
institution  of  high  standards  and  standing,  and  of  various  state  and 
governmental  institutions  which  help  to  establish  the  educational  system 
of  the  country. 

The  character  of  the  research  work  which  is  undertaken,  as  well  as  its 
general  effect  upon  the  public  mind  and  public  good,  are  significantly  affect- 
ed by  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  established. 

The  first  type  is  characterized  by  having  a  specific  end  or  object  in 
view,  seeking  to  establish  facts  of  technical  importance  and  with  probable 
definite  and  profitable  application  in  industrial  processes.  Its  results  are 
generally  protected  by  patents  insuring  use  only  by  the  private  agency 
which  supports  the  investigation.  The  public  learns  of  its  results  only 
indirectly  and  has  no  direct  interest  in  the  facts  which  are  demonstrated  or 
in  the  methods  used  in  researches. 

The  second  type  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  experience  by  industrial  agen- 
cies of  the  benefits  of  technical  research,  and  is  an  attempt  to  provide 
similar  skilled  investigations  of  subjects  of  broad  public  interest,  using 
funds  which  have  accrued  from  the  results  of  the  application  of  scientific 
methods,  business  acumen,  or  exploitation  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
country,  for  the  establishment  of  facts  of  public,  economic  or  humanitarian 
interest.  The  results  of  these  investigations  are  open  to  public  use,  but  up 
to  the  present,  at  least,  this  work  is  looked  upon  by  a  large  proportion  of  our 
people  as  having  back  of  it  some  secret  or  sinister  motive,  or  else  as  an 
attempt  to  win  support  to  corporation  interests  by  activity  in  a  field  of 
public  service  which  is  too  technical  in  character  for  the  public  mind  to 
grasp.  I  am  not  belittling  this  work  or  criticizing  the  motives  of  these 
great  endowments  for  scientific  research,  but  am  attempting  to  present 
what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  public  reaction  toward  them. 

The  third  type  of  research  work  has  always  been  a  part  of  the  activity 
of  educational  institutions.  Everyone  recognizes  the  necessity  for  constantly 
enlarging  the  borders  of  the  field  of  human  knowledge.  Teaching  without 
research  soon  becomes  hide-bound,  uninteresting,  of  little  inspirational  or 
cutural  value.  But  the  atmosphere  of  the  university,  in  the  past  at  least, 
has  tended  to  limit  the  field  of  research  to  those  problems  which  were 
academic  rather  than  technical  in  importance.  ''Truth  for  truth's  sake"  is 
a  familiar  slogan.  Undoubtedly  this  is  an  inspiring  motive  for  research 
men,  but  it  has  not  appealed  to  the  public  imagination.  Hence,  public 
support  for  this  work  has  sometimes  been  hard  to  get,  because  of  the  idea, 
false  though  it  may  be,  that  the  work  is  "impractical,"  "theoretical,"  or 
"visionary"  in  character.  Please  understand  that  I  am  not  defending  this 
point  of  view.  No  one  has  keener  respect  for  the  methods  and  results  of 
this  type  of  research  than  I.  Furthermore,  much  of  the  very  best  and  most 
fundamental  research  in  science  can  be  shown  to  have  direct  economic 
value  in  industry  or  agriculture.  But  the  results  of  this  type  of  research, 
while  freely  available  to  the  public,  seem  to  be  regarded  as  of  little  use 
to  it.  I  believe  that  it  is  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  general  public 
reaction  toward  it  to  say  that  its  purpose,  methods,  and  results  are  little 
understood,  and  there  is  little  enthusiastic  support  for  it.  The  work  of 
the  agricultural  experiment  stations  is  somewhat  better  known  and  enjoys  a 
somewhat  more  desirable  position  in  the  public  mind  than  does   general 


17 

university  research;  but  even  here  it  is  evident  that  station  men  feel  that 
they  do  not  have  all  the  public  support  to  which  the  importance  and  value 
of  their  work  should  entitle  them. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions,  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion,  prior  to 
the  outbreak  of  the  World  War,  that  support  for  research  work  was  tend- 
ing toward  concentration  in  the  hands  of  private  enterprises,  with  private 
and  personal  control  of  both  the  methods  and  the  results  of  the  investiga- 
tions. This  seemed  to  me  to  be  extremely  unfortunate.  I  felt  that  the 
general  public  good  demanded  that  the  very  best  that  educated  scientific 
skill  could  contribute  to  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  public  business,  of 
public  health,  of  public  food  supplies,  and  of  public  social  and  moral 
development,  ought  to  be  freely  available  to  the  use  of  all  rather  than  con- 
fined by  patents  or  other  means  of  maintaining  secrecy  to  the  individual 
profit  of  a  single  corporation  or  industry. 

Then  the  war  came  on,  with  its  insistent  demand  for  new  methods  of 
meeting  every  conceivable  type  of  constructive  and  destructive  processes.  It 
seemed  that  success  in  the  war  was  to  go  to  that  nation  which  could  outwit 
the  other  in  the  production  of  new  engines  of  war,  new  uses  of  poisonous 
gases,  new  sources  of  supply  of  foodstuffs  and  munitions  of  war,  etc., 
It  became  almost  a  trite  saying  that  the  war  is  teaching  the  world  the  value 
of  research  work. 

Now  the  war  is  over.  We  are  faced  with  the  problem  of  securing  more 
public  interest  in  and  support  for  research  work,  the  results  of  which  shall 
be  available  for  the  general  public  good.  I  suppose  that  there  was  in  the 
minds  of  the  committee  which  suggested  this  topic  for  discussion,  the  idea 
that  during  the  war  active  work  on  agricultural  research  has  been  inter- 
rupted by  the  necessities  of  the  war,  and  that  it  is  of  importance  now  to 
restore  it  to  prewar  activity.  I  have  not  felt  this  as  a  critical  condition. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  increased  appreciation  of  the  practical  value 
of  research  work  of  all  kinds,  including  agricultural  research,  has  more 
than  counterbalanced  the  disrupting  influence  of  the  absence  of  our  men 
in  war  time  service.  Further,  many  of  our  men  have  come  back  with  in- 
creased respect  for  research  work  as  a  result  of  their  participation  in  the 
work  of  the  sanitary  corps,  the  hospital  corps,  the  engineering  corps,  etc. 
and  their  insight  into  the  work  of  the  research  organizations  in  this  country 
and  abroad.  Therefore,  I  believe  that  the  present  problem  is  not  so  much 
one  of  getting  new  interest  in  research  as  a  life  work  or  better  institutional 
conception  of  the  values  of  research  to  the  institution  as  it  is  that  of 
arousing  general  public  interest  in  and  support  of  this  kind  of  work. 

I  believe  that  the  first  step  is  to  encourage  those  who  are  influential 
in  forming  public  opinion  through  addresses,  papers,  etc.,  to  present  this 
matter  in  its  true  light  wherever  the  opportunity  is  offered.  In  so  far  as 
it  concerns  agricultural  research,  this  duty  will  fall  on  those  of  us  who 
represent  the  land-grant  college  movement,  as  a  whole. 

In  this  campaign,  I  think  that  the  first  fact  to  be  emphasized  is  that 
research  is  not  teaching.  Agricultural  pxperinicnt  stations  have  usually 
been  located  at  or  in  connection  with  agricultural  colleges.  This  has  given 
rise  to  the  idea  that  the  experimental  plots,  feeding  stalls,  laboratories,  etc., 
are  intended  to  teach  or  to  demonstrate  certain  established  facts  and  much 
of  the  criticism  which  has  been  directed  toward  experiment  station  work  has 
been  due  to  this  misconception.     Next,  I  think  that  the  necessity  for  and 


18 

value  of  exact  measurement  of  all  of  the  contributing  factors  in  an  experi- 
mental investigation  should  be  explained  as  ample  reason  for  the  expense  of 
such  operations  as  compared  with  that  of  similar  operations  in  established 
enterprises.  Such  careful  work  distinguishes  real  investigation  from  the 
haphazard  trials  or  experiments  which  constitute  a  part  of  many  ordinary 
farm  operations.  Then  we  must  point  out  that  skilled  scientists  (not  neces- 
sarily trained  farmers)  must  be  used  in  these  investigations;  and  that  agri- 
cultural operations  like  industrial  operations  are  founded  on  true  scientific 
principles,  and  that  only  those  who  are  trained  to  recognize  and  under- 
stand these  principles  can  accurately  interpret  the  observations  which  are 
made  in  the  field  or  laboratory  and  draw  the  correct  conclusions  therefrom. 
We  must  not  fail  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  as  soon  as  an  experimental 
study  has  been  brought  to  a  definite  conclusion  its  practical  application  to 
agricultural  operations  will  be  demonstrated  through  the  extension  agencies 
provided  for  that  purpose.  However,  it  is  a  sad  mistake  so  to  emphasize  the 
practical  or  economic  importance  of  agricultural  research  work  that  our 
constituency  gets  the  idea  that  only  men  of  practical  farm  experience  should 
be  used  in  agricultural  investigational  work. 

I  feel  that  I  would  not  be  completing  this  discussion  of  the  steps  which 
I  think  lead  toward  the  securing  of  public  approval  and  support  for  agri- 
cultural research  work,  if  I  did  not  allude  here  to  the  phase  of  the  matter 
which  I  have  already  discussed  at  a  meeting  of  the  section  on  experiment 
station  work,  namely,  the  necessity  for  the  presentation  to  the  general  public 
of  such  a  united  front  and  such  a  spirit  of  cooperation  and  sympathy  be- 
tween research  workers  as  will  lead  to  more  general  public  confidence  in  the 
accuracy  and  the  impartiality  of  station  research  work.  Dr.  Angell  has 
emphasized  the  need  for  cooperation  between  research  agencies.  I  feel  that 
this  point  can  not  be  overemphasized.  As  a  result,  in  part  at  least,  of  the 
habit  of  public  criticism  of  each  other's  work,  which  may  be  a  perfectly 
proper  and  legitimate  incentive  to  scientific  accuracy,  the  general  public 
has  become  accustomed  to  belittling  the  opinions  and  the  work  of  so- 
called  "experts."  It  has  become  skeptical  of  the  possibility  of  securing  dis- 
interested, impartial  and  accurate  scientific  evidence  on  any  question  of 
public  concern.  On  these  accounts  we  need  to  do  everything  within  our 
power  to  re-establish  public  confidence  in  expert  opinion  and  to  emphasize 
the  true  reason  for  our  work,  namely,  the  contribution  to  the  public  welfare 
of  an  accurate,  impartial  and  thoroughly  scientific  basis  for  educational, 
industrial  and  agricultural  development. 

Finally,  I  should  say  that  the  missionary  in  this  movement  for  better 
understanding  of  agricultural  research  work  should  be  full  of  a  message  of 
good  cheer.  Pessimism  and  discouragement  never  are  efficient  aids  to  any 
movement.  Fortunately,  there  is  nothing  in  the  present  situation  which 
ought  to  create  this  discouraged  feeling  in  the  minds  of  our  station  men. 

Out  of  the  chaos  of  conflicting  political  opinion  and  of  rising  class 
prejudice,  our  efforts  to  extend  the  borders  of  human  knowledge,  to  enlarge 
the  safe  and  sure  foundation  for  agricultural  development,  to  sift  the  wheat 
of  true  knowledge  of  nature's  laws  out  of  the  mass  of  chaif  of  superstitious 
beliefs  and  misinterpreted  results  of  individual  farm  experiences,  stand 
clear  of  suspicion  of  class  interest  or  improper  motives.  We  may  take 
tremendous  satisfaction  in  the  thought  that  we  are  dealing  with  perma- 
nent   verities    rather    than    with    passing    vagaries    and    impulses.     Being 


19 

optimistic  and  courageous  ourselves,  we  may  approach  the  task  of  securing 
public  confidence  in  and  support  for  our  agricultural  research  work  with 
every  assurance  of  success. 

The  Presidext.  May  we  hear  from  President  A.  F.  Woods  of  the 
Maryland  State  College? 

A.  F.  Woods.  It  is  really  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  continue  this 
discussion.  I  was  put  on  the  program  as  alternate  in  case  Dean  Thatcher 
was  not  here.  Certainly  there  is  no  disagreement  among  the  stations  and 
colleges  on  the  questions  laid  before  us.  We  all  understand  the  purposes 
of  the  National  Research  Council.  We  realize  that  the  Council  is  doing 
everything  in  its  power  to  promote  research  and  to  develop  a  public  senti- 
ment that  will  support  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  we  shall  find  serious  diffi- 
culty in  maintaining  our  national  and  state  supported  research  agencies. 
The  support  of  the  National  Research  Council  will  undoubtedly  be  available 
in  maintaining  this  interest  in  publicly  supported  research.  I  am  glad  to 
note  the  interest  of  this  Association  in  cooperating  with  the  National 
Research  Council.  In  my  opinion,  the  organization  of  the  Research  Council 
is  one  of  the  great  forward  steps  in  the  development  of  a  national  policy 
looking  toward  the  coordination  of  fundamental  research. 


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Bulletin  of  the  National 

Volume  1 


A    001  218  899    i 


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Number  3.  Refractory  materials  as  a  field  for  research.  By  Edward 
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